????這件慘事這么說吧，就好比他爬到一個高臺跳水板上，大叫著讓泳池邊的人觀看他表演向后翻騰三周轉體四周。他在跳板上跳了幾下準備開始，又跳了幾下確定所有人都在看他，然后高高躍起……結果卻栽到了泳池外面。

????啪嗒。

????可憐的格蘭特。當然，他并非真的在嘗試最高難度的跳水動作，而是在進行一次學術方面的高難度嘗試：申請超一流的MBA課程。雖然他沒有像跳水運動員那樣，穿著Speedo站在泳池上方的高臺跳板上，但他暴露得更加徹底——在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上，所有人都能看到格蘭特的失敗。

????你可能讀過格蘭特的博客“賜我一份錄取吧”，其中詳細記錄了他申請頂級MBA課程的經(jīng)歷。其頁面瀏覽量已經(jīng)達到10萬人次。內(nèi)容也很不錯：充滿熱情，生動詳實，其中包括許多建議和想法，以及他自己總結的教訓。閱讀他的博客時，你就如同在陪著格蘭特一起努力學習，參加GMAT考試，研究學校，考察校園，分析短文范例，參加面試。不能再詳細了！

????但這也是格蘭特遭遇慘敗的原因之一。他并沒有將全部精力投入到申請頂級商學院上。他還有一份全職工作，同時還在從事大量公益事業(yè)，更不用說還要花費大量時間更新博客。

????他的故事對于正在申請頂級MBA課程的所有人都很有價值。格蘭特沒有專注于進入商學院這個首要目標，結果付出了慘痛的代價。

????最近他在一張荒涼的火星照片下面寫道：

????哈佛：拒絕，沒有面試機會

????沃頓：拒絕，沒有面試機會

????耶魯：拒絕，沒有面試機會

????凱洛格：拒絕

????塔克：拒絕

????我不想撒謊；但告訴大家這些結果真的很難。

????當然，正在報考MBA的人都知道，被拒絕是最糟糕的事情，但這也是常事。去年，格蘭特申請的五所商學院，一共收到了超過25,400份申請，但最終被錄取的人數(shù)不到3,000人。在這五所商學院中，哈佛商學院的錄取率最低，為12%，耶魯大學最高，為24%，總體來說，被這些學院錄取的幾率很低。去年，這五所商學院MBA課程的錄取率不足18%。

????(Poets&Quants) — It was as if he’d climbed up on a high diving board, shouted down to everyone on the pool deck to watch him perform a triple back flip with four twists, bounced a few times to prepare for launch, bounced a few more times to make sure everyone was looking, propelled himself into the air … and missed the pool completely.

????Splat.

????Poor Grant. He wasn’t attempting the world’s most difficult dive, but its academic equivalent instead: applying to an ultra-elite MBA program. And while he wasn’t wearing a Speedo on a high board over a pool, he was even more exposed—Grant was standing in the middle of the Internet for all to see.

????You may have read his blog, Grant Me Admission, in which he chronicles his quest for a top-tier MBA. It’s received nearly 100,000 page views. And it’s pretty good: enthusiastic, lively, clearly written, full of tips and ideas and lessons learned. Read it, and you’re right there with Grant as he studies for and takes the GMAT, researches schools, visits campuses, analyzes sample essays, and gets interviews. It’s incredibly detailed.

????Which is part of the reason Grant went splat. He wasn’t just applying to top B-schools. He was also working full time, and doing a lot of nonprofit work, plus putting in hours and hours on his blog.

????。

????His story holds a valuable lesson for anyone applying to top MBA programs. Grant failed to focus on Goal No. 1, getting admitted to business school, and he paid a painful price.

????As he writes on a recent post, below a photo of a bleak Martian landscape:

????Harvard: Dinged without an interview

????Wharton: Dinged without an interview

????Yale: Dinged without an interview

????Kellogg: Dinged

????Tuck: Dinged

????I’m not going to lie; it is incredibly hard for me to share these results.

????Of course, as anyone who plays this game knows, rejection is a person’s worst nightmare—but it is also the norm. Last year, the five schools on Grant’s target list received more than 25,400 applications for less than 3,000 available spots. With acceptance rates that range from a low of 12% for Harvard to a high of 24% for Yale, the odds of getting into one of these schools are against you. Overall, not much more than 18% of the applicants to these five MBA programs was accepted last year.